Golf club



W- K. STARS Sept. 12,1967

GOLF CLUB Filed March 12. 1964 INVENTOR 71 12? 5751125 United States Patent 3,341,202 GOLF CLUB William K. Stars, 1916 Glendale Ave., Durham, N.C. 27701 Filed Mar. 12, 1964, Set. N0. 351,370 4 Claims. (Cl. 273-'77) This invention relates to a type of golf club that may be used indoors or outdoors within a very limited area, and relates more particularly to a golf club having means for actuating a ball-engaging head.

Various types of golf clubs have been designed for conventional golf courses as well as for miniature courses as the game has become extremely popular. Some golf clubs have been designed particularly for use with games as well as for indoor use.

It is an objective of this invention to provide a golf club construction in which the handle of the club remains stationary while a golf club head may be actuated to strike a ball with a force depending upon the distance the ball is to be driven through a suitable linkage. The amount of force to strike the ball will be dependent upon the skill of the player Without involving great physical exertion.

It is another objective of this invention to provide a golf club that may be used indoors as well as outdoors that requires great skill of the operator to control the direction and travel of a golf ball or other suitable ball whether the club be used outdoors or indoors.

Still another objective of this invention is to provide a novel golf club construction in which the golf club head is mounted on a yieldable member, such as a spring, with the impact of the golf club against a suitable ball to be determined by the deflection of the deformable member.

Other objectives and many of the attendant advantages .of this invention will become more readily apparent from the following detailed description and from the accompanying drawing in which:

(FIG. 1 is a front elevational and perspective view of my golf club embodying this invention shown in the inoperative position; and

FLIG. 2 is a partial front elevational and perspective view of the club in FIG. 1 with the club head shown in 1tlhe operative position with a ball to be struck by the club ead.

Referring to the drawing, there is shown a golf club member 4 in the form of a tapering member, the lower end of which supports a helical spring 6 as securely fastened through the threaded recess 16 to the lower end of the stall? member 4. A cylindrical club head 7 is secured through the threaded recess 8 to the lower free end of the spring 6. The head 7 is provided with opposed flat faced ball-striking ends 9.

A ground-engaging leg member is secured by a suitable fastening means 15 to the lower end of the member 4 directly above and in spaced relation to the upper end of spring 6. The leg member 5 is provided with a Z- shaped downwardly extending member with a ground section 10- being positioned in spaced relation to the club head 7 to permit the head to be manipulated freely without engaging any portion of the ground-engaging leg 5. A forwardly projecting section 11 integrally formed on the leg member 5 is provided with a cable opening 12 at the free end of the member .11.

*An angle bracket 2 is suitably secured by suitable fastening means 14 to the member 4 in axially spaced relation to the lower member :11 and a cable-receiving opening 13 is provided in the forwardly extending leg 14 of the bracket 2.

A club-actuated cable 3 is secured to the club head at one end of the cable with the other end of the cable extending upwardly through the openings 12 and 13 to be secured to the operating ring 1.

As illustrated in FIG. 1, the golf club is in the inoperative position with the cable 3 being extended for its full length. A player, upon pulling the ring 1 upwardly, with the ground-engaging section 10 of the leg member 5 being positioned against the ground, the spring 6 will be flexed to elevate the club head 7, as illustrated in FIG. -2. Upon release of the ring 1, the club head 7 will strike a ball with a force depending upon the spring modulus, the angle of deflection and the rate of speed with which the ring returns to its rest position, as shown in FIG. 1.

The golf club of this invention may be used indoors within a minimum area without raising the handle to drive a ball for a relatively short distance.

It will be readily apparent that the cable 3 may be made of flexible wire or other suitable material such as nylon and in place of the helical spring 6 another suitable resilient and flexible material may be employed to provide the requisite striking action for the golf club which will produce sufiicient impact on a ball to be driven. Other modifications and variations of this golf club are contemplated within the scope of the appended claims.

What I claim is:

1. A golf club comprising a shaft'having a handle at one end thereof, a spring having one end securely mounted at the other end of said shaft, the other end of said spring extending beyond said other end of said shaft and extending substantially in alignment with the longitudinal axis of said shaft, a golf club head mounted on said other end of said spring, and flexible cable means guidably supported on said other end of said shaft and adjacent said handle whereby said cable means may be manipulated at said handle to flex said spring whereby upon returning to its relaxed condition, said spring may cause said club head to strike a golf ball.

2. A golf club as claimed in claim 1, said spring being helical.

6. A golf club as claimed in claim 1, and a ground-engaging member supported on said shaft above said spring depending downwardly in spaced relation to said spring and said club head.

4. A golf club as claimed in claim 3, and handle means on said cable means for grasping one end of said cable means to facilitate manipulation of said cable means.

References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 747,646 12/1903 Sandstrom 273-129 1,213,628 1/1917 Gumaer 273-129 1,618,638 2/1927 Coles 27377 1,662,712 3/1928 Mensing 27380 FOREIGN PATENTS 102,978 4/ 1926 Austria.

ANTON O. OECHSLE, Primary Examiner.

DELBERT B. LOWE, F. BARRY SHAY, Examiners.

G. I. MARLO, Assistant Examiner. 

1. A GOLF CLUB COMPRISING A SHAFT HAVING A HANDLE AT ONE END THEREOF, A SPRING HAVING ONE END SECURELY MOUNTED AT THE OTHER END OF SAID SHAFT, THE OTHER END OF SAID SPRING EXTENDING BEYOND SAID OTHER END OF SAID SHAFT AND EXTAENDING SUBSTANTIALLY IN ALIGNMENT WITH THE LONGITUDINAL AXIS OF SAID SHAFT , A GOLF CLUB HEAD MOUNTED ON SAID OTHER END OF SAID SPRING, AND FLEXIBLE CABLE MEANS GUIDABLY SUPPORTED ON SAID OTHER END OF SAID SHAFT AND ADJACENT SAID HANDLE WHEREBY SAID CABLE MEANS MAY BE MANIPULATED AT SAID HANDLE TO FLEX SAID SPRING WHEREBY UPON RETURNING TO ITS RELAXED CONDITION, SAID SPRING MAY CAUSE CLUB HEAD TO STRIKE A GOLF BALL. 